Beyond the Time Barrier (1960)
In 1960, a pilot testing an experimental rocket powered aircraft accidentally flies into the future and finds himself in a sealed city whose people suspect he is a spy from outside their walls, but who want to keep him to procreate with the ruler's daughter because the majority of the inhabitants are sterile.
- Edgar G. Ulmer
- Arthur C. Pierce
- Arthur C. Pierce
Rating: 6/10 by 38 users
Alternative Title:
Le voyageur de l'espace - FR
The War of 1995 - US
Country:
United States of America
Language:
English
Runtime: 01 hour 15 minutes
Budget: $125,000
Revenue: $0
Plot Keyword: future, time warp, deaf-mute, time travel, u.s. air force, attempt to escape, sterility, romance, held captive, revolt, test pilot, air force pilot, test flight, segregation, mutants, plague survivors, underground city, mental telepathy, cosmic rays, dying civilization, grandfather granddaughter relationship, caged humans, soviet agent, high-altitude flight, rocket plane
Robert Clarke is test pilot "Maj. Allison" who finds himself propelled through time to the year 2024. His airbase is somewhat different though. It turns out that the world has been hit by an epidemic that has sterilised mankind. Needless to say, those that have survived see him as a bit of a commodity - not least the "Princess Trirene" (Darlene Tompkins) who is the daughter of the suspicious "Supreme" (a sort of "Ming" character, without the costume, played by Vladimir Sokoloff). Anyway, becoming aware of his predicament, our young airman has to figure out a way of returning to the 1960s before he finds himself used in a way that would make his (and the censors') eyes water. Can he make it back - and, of course, what of the space-time continuum? The story is actually quite fun, and it passes 1¼ hours easily enough but aim low here. The acting is stilted and delivers an equally pedestrian dialogue in as staccato fashion as you will ever see. The scenarios - cardboard and papier-mâché for the most part are just a bit too obvious to offer any semblance of being outdoor, let alone realistic but that is what happened with these low/no budget afternoon features. Watchable and entertaining, - well yes, but not perhaps in the way envisaged by Ed Ulmer!
